The precursors are over and the Oscars are finished. Here are the winners and losers of Oscar Season 2016.

Big Winners

Moonlight came into the season the most acclaimed drama in the race. This exceedingly small indie wasn’t your typical Oscar vehicle, but through perseverance, support from critics, and a wave of audience appreciation, the film not only won the two categories it was expected to win at the Oscar (Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay), it also managed to capture Best Picture in one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history. It received 218 awards through its precursor run, only seven shy of the tally La La Land had for the season.
Manchester by the Sea didn’t make quite the gains in Oscar season as Moonlight or La La Land, but its star, Casey Affleck, became the most honored actor in precursor history, taking home 35 different awards for Best Actor. The only trophy he didn’t win was at Screen Actors Guild and Denzel had never won, so he had to settle for also-ran status. The film surged at the end and claimed what was once thought an assured victory, Original Screenplay, and a capping win by Affleck in Best Actor.
Hacksaw Ridge was Mel Gibson’s attempt to recover from the stinging rebuke he received after several antisemitic and other remarks he has made over the year. Not only did his film secure six Oscar nominations, he picked up a Best Director nomination against all conventional wisdom. His film took home two Oscars and that makes his film a winner.
Viola Davis rolled through Oscar season like few supporting actresses have and did so to the total of 23 different awards. While there were accusations of category fraud in order to help secure her the win, the ultimate result was the same, an Oscar on the mantle after her third nomination and two previous close misses.

Big Mixed Bags

La La Land had a tremendous season, sweeping up countless awards along the way. It even picked up six Oscars. Yet, fatigue eventually set in and the film failed to capture the one award everyone thought it was sure to receive: the Oscar for Best Picture. Now, it’s hard to complain about 225 awards throughout Oscar season, but going so far and failing to win is a serious blow to the film.
Arrival had gone into Oscar season as the year’s most acclaimed genre film and was thought to be a major Oscar player. It won several precursor awards and when it was nominated at the Academy Awards, it received eight, a sizable haul. However, there were two glaring omissions: no nomination for Best Visual Effects or for star Amy Adams. Adams got pushed out of the crowded Best Actress race and after that, the film started to slide. Through precursor season, it was constantly finding itself left out of the voting and while director Denis Villeneuve finally broke his Oscar nomination curse, the film struggled through the precursors and almost came up empty-handed if it weren’t for the brave voters who honored its very deserving sound editing with the award.
Denzel Washington was once thought to not only be a major contender for Best Actor, but also as Best Director; however, after the film’s release, the film was consistently recognized for its ensemble and late playwright August Wilson for his almost verbatem adaptation of his own stage play, but Washington’s directorial achievement was ignored regularly and the film ultimately came away with an anemic 4 nomination, one of which had been a fading possibility all season: Best Picture. While his co-star Viola Davis ultimately won her category, the film was otherwise ignored and in spite of his own Screen Actors Guild victory, he couldn’t seal the deal to become the first black actor to win three Oscars.
Kubo and the Two Strings had a tremendous precursor season, staying on an even footing against the blockbuster Zootopia. Before the final envelope was opened, Kubo had surpassed Zootopia by one for most awards of the season. The film had even managed a rare Best Visual Effects nomination and was up for a Costume Designers Guild award. The problem the film faced was that Disney/Pixar has a stranglehold on the Animated Feature Oscar and Kubo was blanked in several high profile races, including the Golden Globes and Annie Awards. It’s one shining moment was its British Academy win, but it would prove to be an outlier as the Oscars went the expected and safer route.

Big Losers

The Birth of a Nation began 2016 as the film to beat at the Oscars. It received a pre-screening standing ovation at the Sundance Film Festival and plenty of buzz. Then allegations surfaced about producer/director/writer/star Nate Parker had sexually assaulted a young woman at college alongside his friend and co-screenwriter. Not knowing how to handle this controversy, Parker dug a deep hole that he could never recover from. Worsening details emerged and the film disappeared almost overnight from the Oscar conversation. Not only did it fail to secure a single nomination, its season-long haul resulted in a total of 3 awards, two of which came from Sundance before the buzz died and the other came from a weak 6th place finish on the African-American Film Critics Association Top 10 Films list.
Nocturnal Animals had a lot of promise going into Oscar season. Director Tom Ford had previously directed Colin Firth to his first Oscar nomination, along with myriad other awards for A Single Man, and Nocturnal Animals boasted Oscar nominees Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon in its cast. The film picked up 23 awards during precursor season (including a Golden Globe, given amidst controversy over its questionable campaign strategy) and was well reviewed by critics, but like Gyllenhaal’s previous Oscar attempt, Nightcrawler, it failed to make much headway at the Oscars, picking up a single nomination for Shannon.
Jackie was a critic’s darling and Natalie Portman was an early frontrunner for Best Actress for her potrayal of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy. The film, which examined the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the immediate aftermath from the viewpoint of his widow, won an impressive 53 awards throughout the season and many thought it would do quite well with the Academy. Then it was revealed that some Academy voters found it depressing and slow, and what should have been a bigger take, including a Best Picture nomination, ended up as a rout with only 3 nominations. Portman’s chances slipped fast and the film went home empty-handed at the Oscars.
Lion was Harvey Weinstein’s first strong performer at the Oscars on some time. The audience pleasing drama scored six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and managed 34 other wins during the season. Unfortunately for it, the film struggled through Oscar season. The initial jolt of excitement for its recognition quickly faded and it fought to gain traction frequently, only to find itself fade almost immediately after. Its win at the American Society of Cinematographers was unexpected and started talk of a possible Oscar upset. This talk died down quickly, as did the buzz following Dev Patel’s unexpected win at BAFTA over frontrunner Mahershala Ali. That victory was also short-lived. Ultimately, the film went home without a single trophy from the Academy, but perhaps a renewed interest by studio head Weinstein in trying to rebuild what was once a dominant Oscar machine.